03/08/2026
I spent years believing that becoming a better dancer meant becoming better at controlling my body.
If I moved well, I was praised.
If I struggled, I was ignored.
But no matter which of the two was happening, it never changed how disconnected I felt and was.
Nobody ever asked how it felt to live inside that body.
Looking back, I don’t think I needed another teacher telling me to point my feet.
I needed someone who could help me feel safe enough to actually inhabit my body. But many of the teachers I had did not know how to do that. It was not their fault, it simply was not their focus.
Every teacher gave me another exercise.
Very few helped me understand myself.
But I was hungry to know myself. As a dancer, even more as an artist and as a human being,
When I started teaching many of my colleagues used to tell me, “Don’t think & talk so much. People just come here to dance.” While I did not understand what they mean. I saw so much curiosity in the eyes of my students.
That’s when I understood that thinking was never the problem.
Learning to trust myself was. And to understand what my strength was. I love ideas, I love to think and I love to move. I do not want to let go of the things I love. None of them.
Dance changed when I stopped trying to become someone else’s version of a good dancer. It started when I embraced my unique ways, interests and desires. And o started to use the ingredients I have to cook something meaningful.
So many teachers give you the ONE recipe.
But nobody teaches you to cook with your own unique ingredients.
Your body.
Your history.
Your fears.
Your strengths.
That’s why copying someone else’s dance never quite works.
You don’t need a different recipe. You need to understand your own ingredients.
This is where I think creating the Yerba Buena Circle became so obvious. Because it’s the inevitable conclusion.
I created the Circle because I wanted to build the place I wish had existed when I was learning.
A place where technique matters.
But so do curiosity.
Confidence.
Reflection.
Honest feedback.
And learning how to actually live inside your own body in a save and fulfilling way. To connect to your interests, your
